Then Gunness went on, claimed that the person behind it - David Bedein - has no credibility and that these shots weren't taken at UNRWA schools.
Given a choice of believing Gunness or Bedein, I trust Bedein hands down. (I've spoken to him on the phone and corresponded with him via email.)
The reason I know Gunness is lying is because I did my own research project in 2012. I visited the websites of UNRWA schools in Gaza - all with the "unrwa.ps" domain - and looked to see what sort of materials were there.
I found that the UNRWA school system in Gaza was hardly secular. They had job postings for "religious instruction" teachers.
School websites had articles extolling the virtues of martyrdom.
A poem at the website of a central school site talked about how Zionists raped Palestine and how the author will return to Jaffa:
Palestine should know I adore madness
Jaffa, I should know I'll come back to it
Let him know it's the crazy sons of Zion
With their thought of raping Palestine
The land of Canaan will be only to those who love her
Those who are occupied by people who do not
The land of Isra and Mi'raj cradle of the prophets
The land of jihad and martyrdom
There are stories of young men who asked their parents for permission to wage jihad and who died heroically.
As I noted then then, all of these examples directly contradict what UNRWA's stated educational standards are, which include the idea that they are "tolerant and open minded, upholding human values and religious tolerance."
Are Palestinian Christians forced to attend mandatory Quran classes run by UNRWA? Should the UN be in the Islamic education business? How much of UNRWA's budget goes towards "religious education?" Are Western donors to UNRWA even aware that they are funding these lessons of jihad and martyrdom?
Guess what happened when I publicized this on my blog? Within a couple of weeks, every single one of these school websites were taken down. No acknowledgement, no apology, no relluctant press releases about how UNRWA has failed its mission.
Instead, Chris Gunness engineered a coverup.
So, sorry, UNRWA, but I don't believe a word Gunness is saying about how UNRWA schools in Gaza are so liberal and teach human rights and peace and tolerance. I saw the lessons that the schools were showing to the world in Arabic. And it proves that Chris Gunness is a liar.
